It’s the ultimate treat: neat trays of cloche-lidded dishes, tiny condiment jars and paper-topped glassware delivered to your room. A feast you can eat in a pristine white towelling bathrobe. A spread of potentially over-ordered, almost certainly mismatched items with no one around to judge. The only thing more luxurious than a late-night order at a hotel is an order at the world’s very best room service hotels.

Aman New York

New York City has perhaps the highest concentration of fabulous in-room dining experiences. Take the recently opened Aman Hotel’s in-room omakase service. Meaning “I leave it up to you”, this Japanese style of dining allows an expert sushi chef to slice and sizzle a curated selection of bite-sized dishes, creating a feast of surprises. Only guests in the Aman Suite, spread across floors 11 and 12 with corner views of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, can request this rarefied private audience with chef Takuma Yonemaru.

The Savoy, London

Adding a bottle of Laurent Perrier champagne, or smoked salmon and caviar, to your room service breakfast is just one opulent room service option at London’s A-list hotel. Past midday there are dedicated oyster and caviar menus, Cornish lobster rolls, Wagyu beef tartare, comfort foods like mac and cheese with black truffle or lobster, and sought-after vintages of Dom Perignon and Krug. Make like past guests Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra and lounge in your monogrammed bathrobe to enjoy.

Intercontinental Bora Bora, French Polynesia

This honeymoon spot makes the list of best room service hotels for its photogenic ‘canoe breakfast’, where breakfast trays of lavish tropical fruits, fresh juices and hot foods arrive floating on a va’a, a traditional wooden outrigger canoe. Decorated with local flowers, the vessel will glide up to your overwater villa, where a waitress in a flower crown serves piles of fresh pastries, melon and pineapple, yoghurt bowls served in half-coconuts, hot omelettes, sausages and more.

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An omakase chef will come to your suite at the Aman New York

Raffles, Doha

In the sculptural, horseshoe-shaped Katara Towers in the Qatari capital, this glossy new Raffles doesn’t do anything by halves. And that includes its in-room dining, where nine-course breakfast trollies are brought to majestic suites (involving Arabic touches such as signature shakshouka and labneh with honey). Meanwhile the all-day menu encompasses foie gras au torchon, wagyu rib-eye steaks, lobster casarecce, sole Meuniere and the signature Gold Cappucino. Want something even more niche? Every guest at this all-suite hotel has a butler on call, 24/7.

Park Lane Hotel, New York

Not every hotel can boast a “Caviar Hotline” ‒ but that’s the room service essential this Central Park-side hotel lays on for its guests. Dial 5 from your in-room telephone and you’ll select your caviar presentation of choice: from the tin, with blinis, creme fraiche, capers and red onion? Or sprinkled on nachos, topping deviled eggs, along with a glass or bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Brut champagne ‒ or a shooter of Stolichnaya vodka.

Four Seasons Chicago

Whether you’re over or under the age of 21 will dictate which room service treat will bring you back to the FS Chicago. Will it be the legendary in-house ice cream cart? Call down to summon it for a 30-minute spree in your room, choosing between new seasonal flavours dreamt up by the hotel’s chefs, plus toppings from fudge sauce to sprinkles and M&Ms. Or for a more grown-up palate, you might craving the services of the martini cart, which appears with the questions: gin or vodka? Olive or twist? Both options have been delighting guests for nearly 25 years.

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The ice cream cart at Four Seasons Chicago hotel

The Peninsula, Bangkok

In a city known for its affordable, high-quality street food, staying in for tray service may seem especially decadent. But the Peninsula’s breakfast spreads alone are the stuff of legend: there’s a Chinese Breakfast involving dim sum and congee rice porridge, a Thai breakfast packed with fresh fruits and crabmeat omelettes, and a plant-based menu for vegans. Oysters by the half-dozen, and a whole range of Thai specialities from steamed sea bass to roasted duck red curry, give you options from comfort foods to luxury treats.

Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston

Got a VIP – a Very Important Pet, that is – traveling with you? You’re going to want to check in at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, which has a luxe in-room dining menu for guests’ dogs, as well as their humans. Codfish and caviar is the standout dish, though there’s also organic scrambled eggs with kale and quinoa for the health-conscious hound, and beef patties made (naturally) with the finest Aberdeen Angus beef.

Four Seasons Ko Samui

Make your reservations now for this Ko Samui resort – it’ll be booked up for years after its starring role on the next season of The White Lotus. But TV tourism is just one reason to visit: the hotel is known for its in-villa barbecues, where guests are treated to a traditional Thai moo kra ta feast of tiger prawns, Angus beef, pork and chicken cooked in a hot pot over glowing coals. Meanwhile, gourmet picnic baskets can be loaded up for you to enjoy in your villa or around the resort, featuring prawn and pomelo salads, mango and sticky rice and chicken wraps.

Vegan, healthy and even dog options are often available

Pendry Washington DC

With a Potomac river view, a rooftop sushi restaurant and glamorous pool terrace, the Pendry is one of DC’s hottest newcomers. And its in-room dining matches that energy: caviar-topped deviled eggs, Cobb salads sprinkled with lobster, and a New York strip steak with a decadent black truffle gratin. (Pair them with several top champagnes, Napa Valley reds or Provence rosés.) The Maine crab cakes are a real hit with regulars, while California rolls and artisanal cheese plates can be ordered if you get in after hours.

Milestone Hotel, London

Fancy a cocktail, but staying with someone you want to impress? At London’s Milestone Hotel, one of the creative room service options is an audience with one of the hotel’s expert mixologists. They’ll come up to your room to consult on your favourite notes and flavours, then stir you up the perfect aperitif. You could try the hotel’s own Smoky Old Fashioned, request a margarita or Manhattan as you like it, or ask your private bartender to shake up something entirely different. The Milestone is part of the Red Carnation group, the preferred hotels of Luxury Gold groups when staying in Britain.

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Increasingly, we want to know that the places we stay are not just doing no harm, they’re actively doing good: for their natural environment, for wildlife conservation, for staff and local communities. One of the leaders in this field is New Zealand’s magical Te Waonui Forest Retreat, which guests visit on Luxury Gold’s 19-day The Long White Cloud journey.

Designed with sustainability in mind from top to bottom, it’s visitors’ first stay after their entry point of Christchurch; tucked away on the west coast of the country’s South Island, it’s an exclusive and atmospheric base for visiting the Franz Josef Glacier.

To find out more about how this five-star hotel manages to seamlessly combine luxury with sustainability, we spoke with Richard Hayman, one of the architects that originally worked on the forest retreat. 

Green at Heart

Shrouded in dense, unspoiled green forest with snow-capped peaks visible just above, you’ll enjoy a private balcony and terrace here – perfectly for listening to the call of native songbirds. New Zealand, it goes without saying, is a world leader in sustainable tourism; but even on a scene this dense with innovative retreats, this hotel stands out.

“I remember day one when we first found the site, walking through the native bush and seeing these fantastic trees which have never been felled,” says Richard. “I thought, wow, building in this space is a real privilege. So we tried to keep as much of that bush atmosphere as we could.”

Sustainable and stylish

Te Waonui Forest Retreat was designed as “passively” as possible, he explains; that is, every attempt was made to make it low-emission and energy efficient for its entire lifetime. This involves using low-carbon, easily available timber, overhanging and slats keeping heat from the sun out of the building without the need for air-conditioning. “We tried to have very high insulation levels, no energy heat pumps, lots of overshadowing in terms of the building design keeping the sun out,” says Richard. “We were very careful about sourcing non-rainforest hardwoods and timber.”

Inside the building, LED lighting and use of natural light keep things energy-efficient, cleaning is chemical-free and recycling policies are stringent throughout the property. Furniture and fittings make use of local materials, such as New Zealand natural wool carpets, organic cotton and even possum-skin cushioning. Sensor lights automatically shut off when no one’s in the room, while water is saved via flow restrictors in showers. All staff are highly trained in sustainable methods of catering, cleaning and service.

A Truly Luxurious Forest Retreat

That’s not to say you’ll feel like you’re doing a PhD in sustainability; this is a luxe holiday hideaway at heart. As well as those birdsong-filled balconies, there’s a fine dining restaurant open to views of the virgin forest and peaks outside; rooms have luxury bedding and designer furnishings. And there’s plenty of local character: “Look out for Kiwi touches in terms of art and materials,” says Hayman. “The drapes are inspired by our native alpine parrot bird, the Kea ‒ the underside of its wing has bright oranges and reds against a khaki feather. The bar is inspired by coal and by glow worms.”

One of his favourite features are the ethically-sourced bamboo keycards, which can also be used as luggage tags. Clean and green power is also hugely important. “In New Zealand we are lucky enough to have some very clean and green electricity; ours is hydro-, wind- and solar-generated power from our provider Meridian. Where we do have to use natural gas, we’re looking at ways to reduce that or increase efficiency,” says Hayman. And projects are constantly reviewed, and ongoing. One recent movement saw 375 punga ferns planted around the property to restore parts of the native forest.

Incredible Nature on Your Doorstep

This area of New Zealand is special, say the team. It’s wild, it’s irrepressible, and guests are given the privilege of interacting with it all, close up. “Te Waonui Forest Retreat is a great place to remind you of how elemental nature is,” says Hayman. “Our guests can get involved in that to a greater or lesser extent depending on how adventurous they are. Bush walks, kayaking on the lagoon, spotting white herons, climbing, even helicopter flights up to the glacier. it’s a chance to get up close to the most rugged environment in New Zealand.”

Three more Luxury Gold accommodation choices that champion sustainability:

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo, Peru

Acknowledged by the United Nations as the World’s First ‘Climate Positive’ Hotel Brand, Inkaterra immerses guests in a planet-friendly lifestyle. From solar panels for power to local education initiatives, as well as fittings from local craftspeople, textiles from local Alpaca wool and recycled-fabric slippers, this lodge close to bucket-list site Machu Picchu has an entirely carbon-neutral ethos.

Visit on: Grand South America.

Pilgrimage Village, Hue, Vietnam

 

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This unique stay started as a craftsman’s village, where owner Le Van Truong could help connect expert local makers with visitors to Vietnam and boost the local economy. Now it has traditionally styled houses and pool villas for guests to stay over; and the team has made sustainability top priority, from sensors to shut off any unused lights or electronics to chemical-free cleaning protecting the biodiversity, water waste-reduction techniques in place and 95% of staff employed from the local area.

Stay there on: Inspiring Indochina.

Sails in the Desert, Ayers Rock, Australia

 

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This desert oasis in Uluru has an entire solar field that produces 45% of its energy, not to mention a waste minimisation programme to avoid sending waste to landfill, and an ongoing mission to raise awareness of wildlife conservation among its guests. A certified Advanced Ecotourism property, Sails in the Desert partners with the indigenous Anangu community on storytelling experiences and champions Aboriginal art in its onsite gallery, as well as training the next generation to increase the indigenous presence in the tourism industry.

Spend the night on: Inspiring Australia.

Even though he makes scores of them per week, chef Ben Kelliher isn’t sick of the Beef Wellington. In fact, this classic English dish ‒ a star of his menu at the English Grill in London ‒ is a personal favourite.

The English Grill is the in-house restaurant at The Rubens at the Palace, the 5-star central London hotel Luxury Gold guests stay at during our British Royale journey.

“I often tell our guests a bit about the history of pies and pastry in the UK, and why this is something quite special to cook and present,” he tells me. Getting the puff pastry casing just right and slicing through to rose-pink beef is still a thrill. “It’s a real treat when you go out to a restaurant and see this dish on a menu; you really don’t see it that much around London,” he says. Luxury Gold customers can taste this historic dish on a visit to the Grill during the London leg of our British Royale journey.

A dish is born

The first Beef Wellington was created in 1815, made in celebration of the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, and his victory at the Battle of Waterloo in June that year. But this pastry-swaddled beef dish has endured in British culture, becoming fashionable at the height of 1970s dinner party culture and remaining a home-cooking showstopper today. British cooking royalty from Mary Berry to Gordon Ramsay have championed its sturdy charms in recipe books and restaurants. 

Beef Wellington is a classic English dish

“It’s actually one of the first dishes I made on my first job in London,” says Kelliher. “I’d make the pancakes ‒ that’s the layer between the mushroom duxelles (a paté-like mix) and the pastry.” When he began working at the Rubens at the Palace hotel, home to the English Grill, he decided to run masterclasses teaching guests how to make this British classic, as well as putting it in prime of place on the menu.

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Reimagined for the 21st century

With the benefit of time, Kelliher has been able to play with the historic recipe for a modern palate. “We’ve been through a few versions of the dish: serving it with a red-wine sauce and a truffle madeira sauce, which are both more traditional versions,” says Kelliher. “With our current Wellington, there’s a bit of a modern twist: we serve it with a lobster sauce,” he explains. Inspired by the combination of beef and lobster in surf ‘n turf dishes, this adds a little indulgence and luxury. 

Meet chef Ben Kelliher:

Though the dish was designed for meat-loving 19th-century Englishmen, it’s surprisingly versatile, says Kelliher. Faced with hosting vegetarian guests, he suggests “you could do salmon in a similar style, which would usually be called en croute, with spinach and pancake wrapped around it. You can also do vegetarian or vegan versions: we’ve used beetroot instead of beef topped with goat’s cheese, or butternut squash topped with spinach.” 

One of his favourite twists on the iconic dish is a miniature version, served canapé-style. “We’ve done bite-sized, sausage-roll style ones with a small piece of beef and the mushroom duxelles spread on top rather than all the way around. Those are great for parties or events.”

As for what he’d recommend as a complimentary starter and dessert either side of your English Grill Beef Wellington? “We’re just coming into asparagus season in the UK, so I’d say our asparagus dish with morel mushrooms, confit egg yolk, grilled spring onions and a homemade milk-asparagus mayonnaise to start.” And to finish? “It has to be the Crepes Suzette, flambéed at your table.”

“We’re always trying to find a little twist to a dish and a way to make it theatrical for guests,” he adds. “It’s a great place to come for a celebration or special occasion in London.”

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The English Grill restaurant, London

Ben’s top tips for the perfect Beef Wellington:

“We always use fillet of beef; you can use a sirloin but it would be a bit tougher. Fillet is the finer cut ‒ it should cut through like butter and really melt in your mouth. We use a centre cut of Aberdeen Angus beef from a local supplier, which is dry-aged for 28 days. We have a great relationship with our butcher and are always testing and evaluating the meats we use for the best quality.”

“We use a mixture of wild mushrooms to make the mushroom duxelles (a fine mix with shallots and butter), cooking it for quite a long time ‒ around 45 minutes or an hour. It’s crucial to get rid of the water content, or you risk making the pastry soggy when you assemble it. We also deglaze the duxelles with a bit of madeira and port to add flavor and put a little grated truffle in there.”

“When it comes to assembling, have everything prepared in plenty of time: don’t panic. You can get things like your duxelles, your puff pastry and any pancake you’re using ready well before you need to put it together, so do it in stages.”

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Chef Ben Kelliher at The English Grill, London

“Consistency is key for getting the meat perfectly pink on the inside. We’ve mastered it by cooking it at 180 degrees, for 30-35 minutes and then resting it for 15-20 minutes. That brings it up to medium rare and it largely works every time. We also advise guests in the masterclass to have a probe to check the temperature at the centre.”

“Then, when you’ve cooked it, resting it is absolutely key. You’ve got to let the beef rest for up to 20 minutes, it helps the pastry firm up, it makes the meat juicy and you’ll be able to slice it really nicely.”

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